Why Fear And The Walking Dead Will Never Crossover

The word "crossover" is a trigger for fans of any series to clamor at the thought of seeing a bunch of characters which exist in the same fictional universe interact in the same episode or movie. From the moment AMC announced The Walking Dead would get a companion series which would form into Fear the Walking Dead, zombie lovers everywhere have pondered the idea of Rick Grimes crossing paths with Nick Clark.

The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead should not and will not happen, ever.

The crossover just doesn't work in this case, for several reasons. Speaking to ComicBook.com in an exclusive interview during the show's second season, Fear the Walking Dead showrunner Dave Erickson opened up about the topic. "As of right now, no, there is no plan," Erickson says. "From a narrative perspective, nevermind the geography of it all, I think it would be too difficult to pull off. I don't think there's anything, as far as I've read in the comic, I don't think there's any trackway for that either. It's such a complicated proposition and I think for the time being, the two shows just need to exist in their own spheres."

Erickson said it plainly, simply citing the time difference and geographic locations of the sibling series to never intersect, but there is reasoning beyond this which supports the argument against the crossover.

Slide 1/4 – 32 Weeks?

The Walking Dead airs new episodes on 16 Sundays each year. Fear the Walking Dead aired 13 in its second season. As it gets its footing with ratings, that episode count will likely round out to The Walking Dead's standard 16, as well.

If the characters of Fear the Walking Dead were to join The Walking Dead, this would mean it would all run together, offering 32 weeks of The Walking Dead.

Madison Clark is not going to come all the way to Alexandria, Virginia, where The Walking Dead has been and will remain to be set for years, and leave. There is no organic story scenario which sees the characters of Fear the Walking Dead simply bumping into Daryl Dixon and parting ways to adventure the east coast. It would be a permanent move which combines the two shows.

Furthermore, if the Fear episodes were to continue to center around the series' core characters beyond the groups' union in Alexandria, fans would be constantly begging to see where Rick, Daryl, Carol, Maggie, and the rest of the characters are hanging out. Believe it or not, the actors need a break and cannot produce zombie drama 14 months a year.

Slide 2/4 – The Ending?

The idea of revealing a bald, hardened, savage Kim Dickens as Madison turned into Whisperer leader Alpha at some point in The Walking Dead's ninth season is admittedly epic. It makes Fear the Walking Dead the twisted origin story of the group from Robert Kirkman's comics which will inevitably be adapted to television and instantly turns the series into a must-watch show for the 12 million Walking Dead fans who are with it every Sunday.

Since the Whisperer reveal won't be how Fear the Walking Dead ends, the series requires its own ending. While Kirkman has repeatedly teased some sort of epic conclusion for The Walking Dead, having had it planned all along, having Fear intersect with the beloved Alexandria bunch would undoubtedly shake those plans up and provide little resolution for the Clark family, who don't deserve to be overshadowed by The Walking Dead characters.

Slide 3/4 – Just No(Photo: AMC)

As Erickson said, the crossover just doesn't work.

Fear the Walking Dead has reached the point where Rick Grimes is stumbling out of the hospital in Atlanta while The Walking Dead is many years beyond those moments. So, not only is the timing a major factor preventing the groups from intersecting seeing as Rick never met a Madison along his journey, but the characters on Fear are in uncharted territories near the Mexican/American border.

The only acceptable crossover here would be to see one of The Walking Dead's characters who went missing in the earliest seasons making their return to television on Fear. Having Morales pop in to Broke Jaw Ranch would certainly be an epic return for actor Juan G. Pareja and audiences would likely squeal as Alicia asked him about his journey which involves him vaguely talking about a group of survivors in Atlanta who went to the CDC when he last saw them.

In the end, there is no organic story which brings the characters of Fear to the same time and place as the survivors on The Walking Dead. To top it off, we might just get that ending we asked about a moment ago if they did, seeing as Rick's group would probably dispose of the new faces upon introduction.

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Fear the Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9 pm ET. The Walking Dead TV series will return for its eighth season in October will a trailer arriving at San Diego Comic Con in July. For complete coverage and insider info all season long, follow @BrandonDavisBD on Twitter.